The term 'social forestry' was first used by the Indian government during the 1970s to describe forestry on village not forest reserve land. The materials in this collection discuss the huge India-wide programme of Forest Department-sponsored plantations (primarily to provide fuelwood) on a variety of 'wastelands' such as village grazing commons, government-owned revenue lands, roadsides, etc., undertaken with varying degrees of local participation. The documents reflect the widespread debate at the time over issues such as what the real objectives of social forestry activities were (or should have been) and what the outcomes were both in terms of stated objectives and unexpected results.

Please note: Due to the poor reproductive quality of some of the original items, some of them have had to be copytyped. The Overseas Development Institute shall accept no responsibility for any inaccuracy, errors or omissions or for the consequences arising from the use of the texts

Putting "social" into forestry? Overview paper
Jack Westoby’s challenge to the forestry world that ‘forestry is not about trees, it is about people. And it is about trees only insofar as trees can serve the needs of people’ (Westoby, 1967 cited in Leslie, 1987: ix) was first answered by social forestry. Its appearance on the international stage was as a response to the so-called poor-man’s fuelwood energy crisis, the supposed eco-disasters of the 1970s and most importantly the growing realisation that industrial forestry was failing to deliver the claimed socio-economic benefits. All of this was to have profound consequences on the future shape of the forest sector. The history of these changes is an important part of understanding why and how social forestry evolved...
Mary Hobley	2005
Social, Economic and Ecological Impact of Social Forestry in Kolar
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India.
Shiva, V., Sharatchandra, H.C. & Bandyopadhyay, J.	1981
Extension components of social forestry programmes in Gujarat, India Report of the FAO/SIDA Seminar on Forestry Extension, Semerang, Indonesia 18th to 30th January, 1982
This seminar paper uses the case of Gujarat State to discuss the process of adoption of social forestry concepts within the planting and protection programmes of the forestry extension service. The author provides a description of land tenure and institutional set-ups and traces the process of decentralisation and transfer of powers to the panchayats.
FAO, Rome	1982
Social Forestry Project in Tamil Nadu Summary Report
This interesting short report examines the status, problems and prospects of social forestry programmes in Tamil Nadu based on a general survey of 18 villages in nine districts, with special emphasis on fuel consumption patterns...
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.	1982
Social Forestry Project in Tamil Nadu. Report of the study on social forestry in Dharmapuri and North Arcot Districts (SIDA-aided)
This evaluation report of the operation of a SIDA-assisted Social Forestry Project in two districts of Tamil Nadu focuses on farm forestry plantations established from 1963 onwards.
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.	1983
Social Forestry Project in Tamil Nadu. Summary report - Third Phase. Second Round. Social Forestry Monitoring Advisory Board
This study includes a survey of 295 plantations established from 1970 onwards in 11 districts. Of particular interest are the data provided on the per hectare establishment and maintenance costs of different kinds of plantations between 1961-65 and 1981-85...
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University	1984
Maharashtra social forestry project, project no. 386-0478 Mid-term Evaluation Report, USAID Mission to India, September 16-October 10. 1985
A Special evaluation of a project to develop the institutional capability of the Horticulture and Social Forestry Department (H&SFD) of the Government of Maharashtra, India, to help villagers manage community and private forest lands. Results were mixed...
USAID	1985
Social Forestry in India: participatory planning and programme change Essay
Unpublished extended version of essay Social Forestry: Time to Modify Goals?, which appeared in Economic and Political Weekly 21, 30 (26 July 1986): 1317-132
Blair, H.W.	1986
Economics of Subabul plantation. In Hegde, N.G. and Abhyanker, P.D. (eds.) The Greening of Wastelands.  Book article
Relwani, L.L. & Hegde, N.G.	1986
Employment and Income Generation in Social Forestry: a case study from Orissa
Undertaken in 1986, this field-based case study examined employment and income aspects of a SIDA-assisted social forestry project in Orissa..
	1986
Evaluation of the SIDA supported Social Forestry Project in Orissa, India. Swedish International Development Authority Report
This medium-length report offers an excellent example of the wide range of issues that need to be addressed in any in-depth evaluation of a social forestry project. The evaluation was conducted after three years of field operations in nine of Orissa’s thirteen districts.
Arnold, M., Bergman, A., Harris, P. and Mohanty, J.	1987
Evaluation of the SIDA supported social forestry project in Tamil Nadu, India Report
This is an interesting evaluation of the first 5-year phase of a SIDA-assisted Social Forestry project implemented between 1981-1986. The primary purpose of the project was to meet rural subsistence requirements for fuelwood and other forest products, particularly of the most socially and economically disadvantaged groups (i.e. the landless, small farmers, women and Scheduled Castes)...
Arnold, M., Bergman, A. & Djurfeldt, G., SIDA	1987
Karnataka Social Forestry Project ODA/IDA Monitoring Report
Crapper, D.B., Conlin S., Chaffey, D. & Bannerjee, A.K.	1987
Hand-book of wastelands development
Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation, India.
Hagde, N G.	1987
Karnataka Social Forestry Project Project Summary, Poverty Impact, Women in the Project
This reasonably short and frank report provides an excellent historical overview of the ODA/IDA-assisted Karnataka Social Forestry Project between December 1982 and March 1988..
Village-level management of common property resources, especially fuelwood and fodder resources in Karnataka, India
Report prepared for the World Bank.
Brokensha, D.	1987
Afforestation of village common lands: a case study of Aslali village woodlot in Gujarat
IRMA case study 4. Institute of Rural Management Anand, India.
Singh, K. & Ballabh, V.	1989
Towards Green Villages: a strategy for environmentally sound and participatory rural development
Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi...
Agarwal, A. & Narain, S.	1989
Elusive goals of social forestry - an Indian experience
Unpublished Paper.
Verma, D.P.S.	1990
World Bank, 1990. Project Performance Audit Report, Gujarat Community Forestry Project Report (CREDIT 961-IN)
This clearly presented medium length report consists of the performance audit of a World Bank community forestry project in the state of Gujarat. The report discusses the problematic complexities of institutional arrangements over village lands and contains some useful lessons on equity issues....
World Bank, Operations Evaluation Department, Report No. 8810	1990
Village woodlots in Gujarat: an experiment in social forestry
Working Paper
Pandey, V.N. & Jain, P.S.	1991
Women and wasteland development - policy issues. Paper presented for the ILO workshop on women and wasteland development
New Delhi: ILO.
Saxena, N.C.	191
Towards Sustainable Community Forestry: An evaluation of community forestry through user groups in central Nepal
Paper presented at a conference on Sustainable and Effective Management Systems for Community Forestry. 15-17 January 1992, Regional Community Forestry Training Centre, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand..
People's Forestry in Jawaja: an Experiment in Educational Innovation
Farm Forestry in North-West India: lessons from the 1980s